200,000 mourn Cardinal Martini; papal tribute

In a message to mourners at Cardinal Carlo Martini’s funeral, Pope Benedict XVI paid tribute to the prelate as “a man of God, who not only studied the Bible, but loved it intensely, he made it the light of his life, so that everything was ad maiorem Dei gloriam, for the greater glory of God.”

“And for this reason he was able to teach believers and those who were seeking the truth that the only word worthy of being listened to, accepted and followed is that of God, because it shows all the path of truth and love,” the Pope continued. “He did so with a great openness of heart, never refusing to encounter and dialogue with anyone, responding concretely to the Apostle’s invitation to ‘always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope’” (1 Peter 3:15).

An estimated 200,000 people traveled to Milan’s cathedral in the days before the funeral to pay their respects to the famed prelate. Ordained a priest of the Society of Jesus in 1952, Cardinal Martini served as Archbishop of Milan from 1980 until 2002 and was created cardinal in 1983. Before his episcopal consecration, he was rector of the Biblicum and the Pontifical Gregorian University.

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